I really wanted to ride my bike on the 1st day of the year but Sue's been trying to get me to try downhill skiing or snow-boarding for a long time, and her brother and sister in-law belong to and were working at a local private ski hill (NW of Milwaukee) on the 1st, so we went up to give it a try.
Sue loves skiing and is good at it. I have never been on downhill skis, or a board, in my life, and frankly, it wouldn't have bothered me a bit if I never tried it at all. Strapping slippery boards to the bottom of my feet and sliding down a steep snowy/icy hill with no brakes just does not sound like fun to me at all.
The first thing I had to decide was, skis or board. Which would I have a better chance of trying, and not end up in a hospital at the end of the day.
I have cross country skied before and I like it as long as I'm on flat snow. But as soon as I start going down hill I get petrified. I have a hard time keeping the skis pointed in the proper direction while trying to keep my balance. I suck at xc skiing, but I know my limits and can enjoy it.
Visualizing myself trying to downhill ski usually involved images of severe groin pulls, ankles pointing in the wrong direction, impalement with a ski pole or a broken leg.
A broken leg would severely affect my mobility. I'll take my chances on the board.
With snow-boarding, both feet are strapped to one board, reducing the chances for groin pulls and broken legs. (I'm trying to convince myself)
But with boarding, you have the violent body slams on your face, or on your back. Possible injuries include; concussion, head trauma, broken wrists from trying to break your fall and maybe a missing tooth or three.
I also figured boarding would be more difficult to learn than skiing, but my objective was to survive one day uninjured, not challenge Shawn White in the half pipe at the next X-Games.
I borrowed Sue's roller blading wrist guards, wore my motocross shorts with built in hip pads and tail bone pad, and brought knee pads, elbow pads and my motocross helmet.
After spending some enjoyable (but anxious) time by the fire, eating snacks and cookies, Steve finally got a break from working and we went out to the bunny hill.
Steve was the best instructor I could possibly have. We started out slow, on a small hill, and he explained the basics and physics of boarding in a manner that kept me at ease. And would reduce the chance of a violent body slam.
The thing that makes boarding difficult (for me) is there are basically 6 ways to go down a hill. So to get good, there is more to master. Going down across a hill to the left (with my left foot forward) felt completely different than going across the hill to my right, as I'm looking down the hill. Then you have to learn how to do the same thing while facing up the hill. I tried that a few times, but was not comfortable at all. And the last 2 ways to go down a hill is point straight down, with left or right foot forward. To attempt a maneuver like that would have been suicide.
I did get in a couple fairly long (for me) rides in before I would sit down. But I wasn't ready to try any technical stuff, like turning. It was explained to me how to turn, but I was trying to get the feel of just trying to stay on my feet and keeping my balance. So I had enough on my plate already.
I never had a violent body slam, but I did spend more time on the ground than I did in an upright and vertical position.
No injuries (Yeah!!!) But I must have landed once on my left arm, because it was numb from my shoulder to my finger tips until I woke up the next day. It felt like I hit my "funny bone" really hard, but I didn't really have any hard impacts. Thanks Coach! And my legs, back, and shoulders were a little sore the next couple of days.
I'm not sure if I'll try, or get the chance to try it again. It seems like something that would take a lot of time and money for me to get good at, Kinda like golf, only with body slams. And I have enough safe hobbies I don't have time for already.
I suppose it wouldn't kill me to try it again. (I hope)
Sue's a pretty good photographer, she got a picture of me upright!!!
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